Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Quinn)

Monday morning comes all too soon to my liking these days. I spent all day yesterday with my girls. Annora’s parents dropped Grace off early Sunday morning. She spent the next hour giving us presents, then telling us about her weekend.

After that, we all went out for breakfast, then we spent a few hours wall around the beach. When we came home later, it was time for movie night. Thankfully, Grace picked something other than a princess movie.

Getting Grace off to school this morning was rough. She was still riding on her excitement from the weekend, which made getting her up for school harder than it normally was.

Now, here I am with Annora sitting on one side of me and my lawyer, Vincent, is sitting on the other. We are all in the private waiting room at the lab where I will provide a DNA sample. Annie insisted on coming with me today.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I think it is because she knows Dionne will be there with her lawyer, Ethan, and Logan. With her by my side, this will be easier to deal with. We are presenting a united front for all to see. I am nervous about seeing Logan for the first time.

Will I be able to tell if he is my son or not just by looking at him?

Annora’s hand grips mine as the door to the waiting room opens. The man who walks in is Dionne’s lawyer. Ethan follows behind him and sends me a chilly look. His eyes glance to

Annora, then he smirks before walking to the row of chairs on the other side of the room.

What the f*k is he smirking at?

I open my mouth to say something to him but close it when Annie clears her throat. I glance towards the still open door. Dionne is standing there, glaring at Annora. The open hatred in

her eyes makes me angry.

However, I am distracted by the little boy in the arms of the woman next to her. Logan. The boy she wants the world to believe is my son. I am suddenly conflicted about what I want to

believe.

The thick brown hair on the boy’s head reminds me very much of Ethan’s. Logan’s eyes are brown. Nothing in his features screams to me that he is mine. However, the DNA test will

tell the truth.

I watch as Dionne ushers the woman, who I can only assume is the nanny, to where Ethan is sitting. The distant look he has on his face as she sits down with Logan makes me want to punch the man. How will Ethan feel when the DNA proves I am not the father, and he is?

If he is.

Knowing she was sleeping with both of us during the same time period, who is to say that there weren’t others she was sleeping with? I have more doubts about her now that I know what she is capable of. I am disappointed in myself for not seeing through her until no

“Well, isn’t this a cozy scene?” Dionne says. She takes a set next to Ethan. D

I watch as he sends her a side-eye glare. His jaw clenches as his eyes focus on me. The hatred I get from this man is undeserved. I haven’t done anything to him. It makes me want

to know.everything she has told him about me.

That is not likely to happen.

“Let’s all focus on why we are here today. Also, please don’t speak to my client again while you are here.” Vincent says. He addresses Dionne directly.

Her mouth was open to say something as he spoke, but she snaps it shut as her lawyer glances at her with a look that clearly says, ‘shut up. This makes me want to laugh, but I don’t. Instead, I give Annie’s hand a gentle squeeze.

The atmosphere in the waiting room is becoming oppressive with all of us in here. The sooner we get this over with, the better. With the hatred coming off Ethan towards me, the sultry looks Dionne sends me when she doesn’t think he is looking, and the way Annie keeps squeezing my hand, I can’t wait to leave here.

When Logan cries, I look over at him. The nanny soothes him, but Dionne sn**hes him from her, which startles him, causing him to cry more. The look on her face disgusts me. She looks angrily at the boy for crying.

“Just give him back to Willa so she can take him somewhere to call him down.” Ethan barks at her.

Dionne tries to snuggle Logan to her chest, but he only wails louder. To me, it looks like he doesn’t ow her, his own mother. That thought breaks my heart. Are they relying on the

aise him? From the outside looking in, that is the way it looks.

nanny

Willa reaches out to Logan and this t

Willa reaches out to Logan and this time Dionne hand him over with a huff of breath. If this

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is how she is with Logan, how would she have been with our child? My thoughts turn ugly as I watch the nanny cuddle him close.

“He is just having a terrible morning.” Dionne says.

“Really? From here, it looks like he is afraid of you.” Annora says. Her voice was

firm.

s low and

Dionne sucks in a breath, then stands up from her seat. “Says the w***e that is sleeping with

his father.”

I give Annie’s hand a squeeze as I look at her to tell her to drop it, but she just tilts her head to the side. I know that look she is giving Dionne. She is assessing her adversary.

“I am his fiancé while you are the w***e. One who was sleeping with both men here and

who knows how many others during the time you conceived, Logan.”

Ethan shoots up out of his seat and stomps halfway across the room. I stand swiftly, then

put my body in front of Annora. His eyes form to slits as he stares at me. I don’t back down.

“Call your dog off or I will lay him out.”

“Is there a problem here?” A firm voice says from the now open door.

Ethan’s eyes slide away from mine to glance at the doorway, then he turns around to walk back to his seat. I sit back in mine, then glance at the person in the doorway. A doctor and a nurse are standing there with a man I have seen before. He is the court mediator.

The judge assigned him to be in the room while the samples were taken, then escort them to the lab. We met him when we first arrived today. It was a smart move on the judge’s part.

“Not anymore.” I say.

“Let’s get this over with already,” Ethan says.

I may not like him, but I agree with him with that sentiment.

“I think it would be a good idea to get Logan and Ethan done first.” Dionne says sweetly.

are going to do all three at once, right in here.” The mediator says. He is clearly

annoyed:

Another nurse soon joins us. She hands the doctor and her co-worker each a tray with the

items needed for the DNA test. We are doing math swabs instead of blood draws. Both nurses walk to where Ethan and Logan are while the doctor comes to where I am sitting

I can hear Dionne talking to her lawyer. She doesn’t sound happy with this arrangement. I love it. Any time she doesn’t get what she wants, I am ecstatic.

“Ready?” the doctor asks.

I nod my head, then open my mouth. He takes the swab from the tub, runs it around the inside of my cheek a few times, then pops it into the secure container already labeled with my name on it. He gives me a nod, then steps back towards the door.

One down, two more to go

I watch as the two nurses do the same thing with Ethan and Logan. Ethan is glaring at me the entire time. I wonder again what the man w think and feel if the test shows that he is Logan’s father. Will he hate himself for how he treats the boy?

Will he hate Dice for here lies?

Will he seek me out to know my side of the story? Even if he does, will he believe me over het? Are her talons sunk so deep in him? Can he even be saved?

be

I guess I will find the answers to those questions when we get the DNA results back

Once all three samples are collected, I watch the nurses, the doctor, and the mediator wait for both lawyers to join them at the door. They leave to do their jobs. I stand up quickly,

all

as does Amora

As we walk towards the door, Ethan calls out to. I turn to look at them. They are both standing now. The many is still bouncing Logan on her knee to keep him quiet.

“Greyson, when that test proses that Dionne is telling the truth about her son, you will pay the price for all you did to her.”

I laugh at him.

“If, and I stress this firmly, if I am Logan’s father, I will step up for him. Only him. Do you heat that, Dionne ?

She gives the a coy smile, but turns it into a sadone when Ethan looks at her. He steps next to bet, then wraps his arm around her waist, puding her against his body. A possessive

action, not a protective one.

“He is your son.” Dionne says.

“We will see about that. I want to make one thing clear to both of you right now. If I am proven not to be his father, I will press charges against both of you. Dionne for bring fals allegations of abandonment against me, and you Ethan for everything you have been doing to my construction sites.”

His eyes widen when I mention his dirty deeds.

“You didn’t think I would figure out that you were behind all the sabotage?”

When he says nothing, I nod my head, grab Annora’s hand, then walk out of the room. I know I shouldn’t have said any of that, but I just couldn’t help myself. I already have all the evidence I need against him for what he has done.

Thanks to his brother Evan and Mac’s investigators.

On our way to the elevator, I see my lawyer walking towards us. He stops at the elevator to wait for us. He is smiling. That makes me curious.

“What are you smiling about, Vincent?”

He shakes his head then presses the button the call the elevator. I know he will tell me once

we are in private, so I don’t press. While we wait, I turn to Annora.

“Do you want me to drop you off at the hospital so you can check in, or do you want me to drop you off at home? I need to go into the office to go over the design for the outreach center with Aaron and our architect.”

She thinks about of for a moment then smiles at me.

“If I go with you to your office, can I have a tour? I have wanted to see where you and Aaron work for a while now. I can check into my office on my phone.”

“You want to see my office?”

“Yes

“It isn’t much, but if that is what you want to do, then we will do it.”

A laugh from behind us makes me glance over my shoulder. Dionne is standing there, just

staring at us. Ethan and the nanny are nowhere in sight.

“You two are like an old married couple. I bet your sex life is full of boring missionary sex”

Vincent pulls out his cell phone, then steps into her line of sight.

“Earlier, you were following a court order, so the restraining order was temporarily overlooked. Right now, you are violating that order by standing there. That is clearly less than five hundred feet away from my client. You must really enjoy being in jail*

Annora laughs as Dionne pivots on her heels, then stomps back down

hallway.

“Vincent, whatever Quinn is paying you, ask for a raise. You are worth every penny and

more.”

He smiles at her then turns back to the now opening elevator doors. We all step inside, then I press the button for the lobby. I make a m**l note to give Vincent a bonus after this case

is over.

“So, what was so funny a minute ago?” I ask.

“I saw her coming down the hallway behind you guys. I smiled because I wanted to see how far she was going to push it. There are cameras in the building. So, she is now on film breaking the restraining order. Which I will petition for copies of.”

Vincent is worth the high fees he charges me. He is always one step ahead of me. I like that.

much like Aaron.

When we reach the lobby, Vincent waves goodbye, then walks out the glass doors. Annora and I follow behind him as we head to my car. Aaron should be in his office by the time we

get to G&C Enterprises.

He called Saturday morning to check in. He sounded tired when I asked him how his date with Rylan went after they left the charity auction. All he said was that he would talk to me about it when once he had time to process it himself.

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he promised he was fine and would see me on Monday. I checked on him again Sunday afternoon while Grace and Annora were collecting

seashells on the beach.

We talked about the designs for the outreach center, then told me to stop worrying about him and spend time with my family. I told him he is my family too, so will worry about him

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all I want. I felt better after he laughed at me, then hung up the phone.

I am curious to know what happened between him and Rylan, but I know him well enough not to push. He will tell me when he is good and ready. I can wait.

“What does your office look like?” Annora asks.

We walk into the building as she asks this. I smile at her impatience. Hopefully, she is as

impressed with our layout as I was when we saw it for the first

“You will just have to wait. We will be there soon enough.”

“Not even a hint? If you guys have your office on the top floor, what do you do with the rest

of the building?”

“I will explain all that on the tour.”

She smiles at me as the elevator doors open. This will be a fun tour. I get to show off my business to the love of my life.

I hope she is a proud of what Aaron and I have done as we are.